Man behind Narada sting operation questions why Suvendu Adhikari was not arrested
Kolkata, May 17: Senior journalist Mathew Samuel whose brainchild was the Narada sting operation, on Monday said he is satisfied after the CBI arrested two Trinamool Congress ministers, an MLA and a former party minister in connection with its probe into the scam.
Samuel, however, expressed surprise that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not arrest former TMC minister Suvendu Adhikari, another accused in the same case who has joined the BJP.
Senior ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim and former ministers Madan Mitra, who is now an MLA, and Sovan Chatterjee, were arrested in the morning. They secured bail later from a CBI court.
Samuel said that steps against corruption are needed and investigations should be fair.
The sting operation was conducted by Samuel of Narada News, a web portal, in 2014 wherein some people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of favours.
At that time, the four were ministers in the Mamata Banerjee government which also had initiated a probe against Samuel.
The operation was made public ahead of the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March 2017.
"It's quite satisfying to see these leaders arrested.
The CBI could not do anything even if it had the chargesheet ready three years ago. They could not touch them, Samuel said when PTI contacted him.
"But I feel bad that Suvendu Adhikaris name is not there on the list of those arrested, Samuel said.
When pointed out that the CBI also did not take any step against former TMC MP and now BJP MLA Mukul Roy, another accused in the case, Samuel said that his is a different matter as there is no video evidence against him.
The arrests were made after Governor Jagdeep Dhankar gave the CBI the go-ahead to prosecute the four leaders.
West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee dubbed the arrests as illegal, contending that the governor's sanction to prosecute them was unlawful.
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Udupi: Theft at temple in Kadiyali prevented by timely action of security guard
two men handed over to police
Udupi: Two men who are learned to have broken into Mahishamardini Temple at Kadiyali early Saturday morning were held by the locals on being alerted by the security guard and handed over to the police.
The thieves are said to have threatened the security guard with a knife, as he raised a ruckus on noticing the duo entering the temple, before escaping from the spot. The locals rushed to the temple premises and, on checking the CCTV camera footage, they found that two men had entered the premises and also escaped from there. Further, the locals looked for the thieves and found them near a petrol bunk in Kadiyali.
One of the thieves is learned to have developed a seizure and collapsed. His associate, who attempted to help him, escaped from the spot on noticing the people coming after them.
The locals, on finding that the health condition of the man who had collapsed was critical, reportedly gave him first aid and took him to the Ajjarakadu District Hospital with the help of social activist Nithyananda Olakadu.
They also succeeded in finding the second thief and handed both the men over to the police. The thieves are found to be natives of Kerala.
The security guard of the temple was lauded for his timely action.
